Teacher positions will be slashed, class sizes will balloon, and some kids will have to walk to school instead of riding the bus as school districts in the metro area make cuts because of failed ballot issues.

Half of Colorado’s record-breaking school bond and mill-levy issues failed. Voters on Nov. 4 denied $1.4 billion in bond projects and $113 million in mill-levy overrides. That was 14 of 27 bond issues and 14 of 28 mill levies.

“We’re sad and disappointed and regrouping,” said Cindy Stevenson, superintendent of the Jefferson County School District, which saw both of its ballot issues rejected.

Jefferson County voters defeated the district’s $350 million bond and $34 million mill-levy proposals. The district expects to cut $35 million over the next three years with most of those reductions coming from the workforce, Stevenson said.

Next year, the district plans to cut $10 million from the budget.

“Our schools will continue to do a good job,” Stevenson said. “We will be increasing class sizes and reducing teacher training, but our kids will continue to learn.”

Voters in Adams 12 school district rejected an $80 million bond issue that would not have raised taxes, but they passed a $9.9 million mill levy that will raise taxes $48 a year per $100,000 of a home’s assessed value.

“It sounds counterintuitive,” said Janelle Albertson, district spokeswoman. “We plan to go back to our community and find out what are the values and priorities and what is it they want for their school district.”

The bond issue would have constructed two elementary schools in the fast-growing northern part of the district.

Now, more portable classrooms will be added and class sizes will rise, Albertson said.

“We are going to have overcrowding problems,” she said. “We know that is not an optimum learning environment.”

Douglas County’s $395 million bond and $17 million mill levy would have added teachers, built 10 elementary schools and renovated 50 other schools in a district that adds 2,000 students a year.

Because both issues failed, the district must eliminate $16 million from its budget on top of the $21 million that was cut last year.

“It’s been a tough time for us,” said Superintendent Jim Christensen. “Clearly, we are extremely disappointed.”

Brighton’s School District 27J claims to be the fastest growing in Colorado, going from 5,000 students in 2001 to 13,500 this year. The district’s $125 million bond would have built two elementary schools and two high schools.

With the bond failure, the district will continue to fill its classrooms and officials expect to go back to voters soon. “We run into a capacity crunch in 18 months,” said Todd Cordrey, school board president.

In Mapleton, the district’s $64 million bond and $2.97 million levy would have supported teachers and paid to refurbish schools, particularly making them safer. Now $2 million must be cut from the $56 million budget, said Superintendent Charlotte Ciancio.

“We will be reducing our staff and there will be higher class sizes,” said Ciancio, who expects to cut 25 positions, including administrators, teachers and bus drivers.

Kids who live within 1.5 miles of school will have to walk instead of taking the bus.

“People were afraid of the economy,” Ciancio said, adding that students told her they are not concerned about the failure at the ballot box.

“We have a building that is a nightmare, but the kids say the building doesn’t matter,” she said. “It makes my heart sad that they don’t know that they deserve better.”

Jeremy P. Meyer was a reporter and editorial writer with The Denver Post until 2016. He worked at a variety of weeklies in Washington state before going to the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin as sports writer and then copy editor. He moved to the Yakima Herald-Republic as a feature writer, then to The Gazette in Colorado Springs as news reporter before landing at The Post. He covered Aurora, the environment, K-12 education, Denver city hall and eventually moved to the editorial page as a writer and columnist.

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